The EU-China summit took place on 21 November

Time: 2016-03-18

 

 

Strategic partnerships will be the main focus of the China-EU summit started in Beijing on 21 November, both sides hope to eventually sign an investment agreement aiming to reduce simmering trade tensions. But The key question is whether Brussels can take full advantage of the Chinese reform wave that was officially launched in the just-concluded Third Plenary Session of the eighteenth CPC Central Committee.
In the past few months, China's new leadership, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have provided glimpses of economic reforms, which have now been officially launched.
Based on the "3-8-3 Plan," they comprise tripartite reforms, focus on eight sectors and involve three reform packages.
The tripartite reforms cover the market, government and companies. In each case, the goal is to reduce the government's role in the economy. The eight core sectors comprise finance, taxation, state assets, social welfare, land, foreign investment, innovation and good governance.
In turn, the reform packages seek to relax control over market access, launch social security and allow sales of collectively-owned rural land. The household registration system ("hukou"), which continues to discourage migration, will be phased out by easier access to urban hukou for third-tier cities
These proposals have been shaped by Chinese think tanks, but the broad outlines have been authored by Li Wei, the ex-secretary of the former premier and tough reformer Zhu Rongji, and Liu He, a reformer who serves as the economic adviser to President Xi Jinping.
he new growth model draws from policy blueprints shaped by the "China 2030" project, which Liu He's team has developed in co-operation with the Chinese State Council and the World Bank.Most new reforms, which will be spearheaded by a central leading team, are likely to be phased into policy over the next five to 10 years.While the team may be led by Premier Li, it could be headed by vice-premier Wang Yang, known for his reforms in Guangdong, and be assisted by Han Zheng, Shanghai's party secretary.